Note: If your child sleeps well and you sleep well, do not change anything, even if the child falls asleep in your arms or while breastfeeding. If sleep is problematic, the following points may be helpful:

• Put your baby on her or his back, when you put him or her to sleep. Contact your midwife or pediatrician for more information on safe sleep for your child.
• The best sleeping place for your baby (up to 6 months) is a separate bed in the same room as the parents.
• You can try the following steps to help your baby learn to fall asleep in the evening and at night without your help:
  
  → Dim the light in the sleeping environment. The light level should be low at night, but doesn’t have to be completely dark either. You can for example use dimmed lights or leave the door a gap wide open.
  
  → Stay with your child until he or she finds rest, but leave him or her in the crib. Longer periods of restlessness and crying while falling asleep are not unusual and do not usually indicate pain. If you feel the need to leave or need some time out yourself, take it and come back after a few minutes or take a break with another caregiver.
  
  → Note: If you change your child’s sleeping situation (e.g. stop carrying around to fall asleep), your baby may cry and wake up. In the first few days after the change, he or she may take up to an hour for your baby to get really tired and fall asleep again.”
• Nights should be made as uninteresting as possible for your baby because he or she is meant to sleep!
  
  → Try to keep the lights low at night when you are feeding your baby.
  
  → Speak or play little with your baby during feeding at night.
• If your baby is unable to (re-)fall asleep, check the following options:
  
  → Maybe your baby needs a new diaper.
  
  → Maybe your baby needs to burp.
  
  → Maybe it is too warm or too cold for your baby. Is your baby sweating? Does your baby feel cold? The body temperature should be around 37°C. Try to remove or add some clothes to your baby.
  
  → If your child is older than 6 months, you can give your child a cuddly toy. These “sleep assistants” are safety and bonding objects for your child and can help your child to fall asleep and maintain sleep.
• Babies are often restless before falling asleep – this does not necessarily mean you need to intervene. From the age of 3-4 months, you can give your child some time to try to find their way to sleep.
• You can develop pleasant sleeping rituals. The more consistent and predictable these rituals are, the easier it will be for your child to fall asleep.
  
  → Sleeping rituals may include calming activities such as changing nappies, massaging or singing to your child.
  
  → You can start with the sleeping rituals 15 minutes before bedtime.
• From the age of 3-4 months, your well-developed baby may need less milk at night. If your baby wakes up after less than 2 hours, try to calm him or her down with a pacifier before you offer breast or bottle.
• From about 4 months of age, you should set a certain bedtime.
• If your baby still wakes up regularly at night at the age of 6 months and needs your help to return to sleep, your baby should be supported to learn how to fall asleep independently in the evening (see above). Most babies will then be able to fall back to sleep at night on their own.
• If you are constantly overwhelmed with your child’s sleeping situation, please seek professional help – from your midwife, your pediatrician or a specialized counseling center. In the Emergency & Help section you can find a list of suitable contact points for professional help in your area.